INDIA COMPUTER STOLEN FROM CONSTRUCTION DEPARTMENT OFFICEThe Telegraph - Calcutta : JamshedpurMachine theft talk in power corridors
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Ranchi, June 2: The disappearance of a computer from the road construction department office seems to be the hottest topic of discussion at the state secretariat here.

Officials responsible for the security of the five-storeyed building, however, were not ready to believe that the theft took place on Tuesday evening.

Alleging that some state officials were involved in “shady dealings”, deputy superintendent of police (secretariat) Clement D’Cruz said, “I refuse to believe that the theft took place on Tuesday evening. The reason being that the chief minister was in his office till 8 pm. It could very well be that the theft took place a few days earlier. The matter was reported on Tuesday.”

Yesterday, R.K. Srivastava, an assistant engineer of the road construction department, found his computer missing from his chamber. The department is situated on the second floor of the building (room no. 218).

“We found the door of the room wide open. There are two cabins in the room. We suspect that the door was purposely kept open for the theft. The department officials are involved in this,” D’Cruz said.

The secretariat had seen another “theft” on May 24. Land and revenue secretary A.C Ranjan found his computer missing from the chamber. “All of a sudden, we are witnessing these incidents. The computer was later recovered from a bush behind the secretariat. Probably, the thief could not take it out of the campus. There has been no such incident in the past five years,” he added.

“We have a company of JAP-6 jawans and securitymen in civil dress at the building. There has been some carelessness on their part. Anyone taking things outside needs a gate pass duly signed by me. It’s strange that a computer was removed but no one seemed to know about it,” D’Cruz said.

Srivastava said he locked the door of his cabin before leaving around 5 pm.

“I had locked my cabin door. The main door has got a problem and does not close. Moreover, due to the ongoing renovation work, the main collapsible gate has been removed. It was a planned theft. Fortunately, no important data was stored in the system. We are mostly into paperwork. The computers are used for typing purposes and preparing progressive reports. The stolen machine was more than a year old”, he added.